The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1887-07-28
Would to God that inste i'd of here and

Would to God that inste ad of here and
there straggler going out to fight these
great monsters of iniquity in our country,
the million membership of our churches
would band together and hew in twain
these great crimes that make the land
frightful with their roar, and arc fatten-
ing upon the bodies and souls of immortal
men. Who is ready for such a party as
thata Who will be mighty hunter for
the Lords
! remark again: II you want to be
successful in spiritual hunting, you need
not only to bring down the game, but
bring it in. think one of the most beau.
tiful pictures of Thorwaldsen is his 'sAu-
tumn." 1t represents sportsman coming
home and standing under a grapevine.
He has staff over his shoul-
der, and on the other end Of that staff are
hung rabbit and brace of birds.
Every hunter brings home the game. No
one would think of bringing down rein
deer or whipping up stream for trout
and letting them lie in the woods. Ateven.
tide the camp is adorned with the
treasures of the forest-beak and fin, and
antler.
II you go out to hunt for immortal
souls, not only bring them down under
the arrow of the gospel, but bring them
into the Church of God, the grand home
and encampment we have pitched this
side of the skies. Fetch them in, dc not
let them lie out in the open field. They
need our prayers, and sympathes, and
help. That is the meaning of the Church
of God-helpl Dye hunters for the Lord |!
not only bring down the game, but bring
it in.
If Mithridates liked hunting so well that
for seven years he never went in -doon,
what enthusiasm ought we to have who
are hunting for immortal souls? If Don.
titan practiced archery until he could
stand boy down in the Roman amphi
theater, with hand out, the fingers out
stretched, and then the King could shoot
an arrow between the fingers without
wounding them, to what drill and what
practice ought not we subject ourselves
in order to become spiritual archers and
''mighty hunters before the Lordr'
But let me say you will never worA
| any better than you pray. The old archer
took the bow, put one end of it down be-
side the foot, elevated the other end, and
| it was the rule that the bow should
be just the size of the archer; II it
was just his size then he would
| go nto the battle with confidence. Let
| me say that your power to project good
| in the world will correspond exactly
| to your own spiritual statue. In other
| words, the first thing in the preparation
| for Oh ris tian work is personal consecra-
| ton.
Oh, for closer walk with God,
A calm and Heavenly frame.
A light to shine upon the road
That leads me to the Lamb.
] lam sure that there are some here who
| at some time have been hit by the Gospel
| arrow. You felt the wound of that con-
viction, and you plunged into the world
deeper, just as the stag, when the hounds
are after it, plunges into Scroon lake
| expecting in that way to escape. Jesus
Christ is on your track to-day, impeni-
tent man, not in wrath, but in mercy.
Oh, we chased and painting souls here is
the stream of Gods mercy and salvation,
where you may cool your thirst Stop
that chase of sin to-day. By the red
| fountain that leaped from the heart of my
Lord, beg you STOP There is mercy for
| you-mercy that pardons; mercy that
heals; everlasting mercy. Is tn ere in all
this house any one who can refuse the
| offer that comes from the heart of the
| dying son of Gods
There is a forest in Germany, a place
they call the 'sDeer leap"-two crags
about eighteen yards apart, between q
fearful chasm. This is called the 'Deer
| leap," because once hunter was on the
track of deer; it came to one of these
crags; there was no escape for it from
the pursuit of the hunter, and in utter des
pair it gathered itself up, and in the death
agony attempted to jump across. OF
course it fell, and was dashed to death on
the rocks far beneath Here is path to
heaven. 1t is plain; it Is safe. Jes
marks 1t out for every man to walk in.
But here is a man who says:
II won't walk in that path; I will take
my own way"
chasm that divides his soul from heaven.
Now his last hour has come, and he re.
solves that he will leap that chasm, from
the heights of earth to the heights OF
heaven. Stand back now and give him
full swing, for no soul ever did that sue.
cessfully. Let him try. Jump, jump
He misses the mark and goes down, depth
below depth, ''destroyed without rem.
edy." Menl angelsl devilsl what shall
we call that place Of awful catastrophe!
Let it be known for ever as 1.-THE Sinners
Death Leap"
1t is SAID that when Charlemagne's hos,
was overpowered by three armies Of the
Saracens in the Pass of Ron cesvalles, his
warrior, Roland, in terrible earnestness,
seized trumpet, and blew it with such
terrific strength that the opposing army
reeled back with terror; but at the third
blast Of the trumpet it broke in two
see your soul fercely assaulted by al
the powers OF earth sand hell. put the
mightier trumpet of the gospel to nv
lips, and blow it three times
Blast the frst-"Whosoever will, lei
him come"
Blast the second-"Seek We the Lord
while he may be found"
Blast the third-s'Now is the accepted
time; now is the day Of salvatiou.n
Does not the host of your sins fall backl
But the trumpet does not, like that of Ro-
| land, break in two. As it was handed
down to US from the lips of our fathers,
we hand it down to the lips of our chill.
dren, and tell them to sound it when thew
are dead, that all the generations of men
may know that our God is pardoninu
God, sympathetic God, loving Col;
and that more to him than the anthems OF